role in furthering legislative oversight, chairing hearings related to the World Uranium Cartel, FBI foreign security surveillance during the Vietnam War, abuse in federal contracting, GAAP, defensive medicine, pricing and supply of natural gas, passive restraint systems for passenger cars, regulation of pesticides, and amendments to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Congressman Moss is considered the father of modern legislative oversight. On May 1, 1973 Moss was also the first to call for the House to set up procedures for a bill of impeachment during the Watergate scandal. Freedom of Information Act Moss has been noted for his determination in passing the Freedom of Information Act into law. As chairman of the Government Information Subcommittee it took Moss 6 congressional sessions (over 12 years) to get the Freedom of Information Act through Congress successfully. Much of the desire for government transparency stemmed from the Department of Defense and Congressional committees evaluation of the nation's classification system in the late 1950s. They determined that the misuse of government classification of documents was causing insiders to leak documents that were marked "confidential". The Moss Committee took it upon itself to reform confidentiality policy and implement punishments for the overuse of classification by officials and departments. The landmark bill was signed into law by a reluctant Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966. References Further reading External links John E. Moss Foundation web site Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California 1915 births 1997 deaths Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly People from Carbon County, Utah 20th-century American politicians